Since graduating from City Seminary of New York last May, Ryan has been sensing a call to serve in a more pastoral role with a church. When Pastor Andy Lee of City Church called in February of this year (a mutual friend suggested Ryan for the position), we were more than a little bit surprised. We had kicked around the idea of moving to Hawaii, because of Carrie's family connections there (and her dislike of NY winters), but never spent much time seriously considering it.
We spent several weeks talking over the phone with Pastor Andy. What would Ryan's role be? How would we fit in in Hawaii? When we'd worked through some of our initial questions, we planned a visit. We dropped off our 2 children in Jacksonville, FL at Ryan's parents' house (where they promptly forgot their parents existed) and flew to Hawaii for a week to meet with the people of City Church.
Most people go to Hawaii to relax, but not the Myers! We spent virtually every waking minute in meetings, gatherings, lunches, and dinners getting to know the people of City Church, and letting them get to know us. We also spent some time with Carrie's family, some of whom live in Oahu, and some of whom flew in from the Big Island, Hawaii. Based on our visit, and some follow-up conversations, we mutually felt that Ryan would be a good fit for City Church, and vice versa.
City Church is a unique church in that Pastor Andy Lee has been very intentional in reaching out to the local Hawaiian people. With so many tourists, military personnel, and other people coming and going, Andy made a conscious choice to build a church for long-term residents, those rooted in Hawaii. It is an approach which can be slow going at first, but can provide great long-term stability in an otherwise transient community. He also consciously reached out to people who had never attended church before.
We were slow to accept the idea of moving, because our family is so rooted here in Astoria; our dearest friends live here, and our children have grown up in Astoria Community Church, a church that we helped start. Ryan is also a die-hard New Yorker. But the more we understood about City Church, beyond the serendipity of our marriage by Pastor Andy, the more it seemed that God was bringing us and the Church together at a very strategic point.
City Church has basically doubled in size in the last few years. There have been many people coming to the church from all walks of life - young people with families, people later in their careers and some retired couples as well. There is a broad, stable group of people who are positioned to help the church reach into the wider Honolulu community.
Since planting City Church, Andy has been the sole pastor and worn every conceivable hat. He not only preaches every Sunday, he teaches Sunday school class, sets up the sound system, and prints out the bulletins. Not once has he missed a Sunday due to illness. And he and his wife have six children! Given the church's recent growth, it's more than time for him to take on another staff member who can help him nurture current members, grow ministries, and share the administrative load.
City Church's long-term goal is to develop a movement of church plants on the islands of Hawaii. City Church will become the "mother church" from which series of "daughter" churches can be established. Ryan's role in this church-planting movement will be support the growth of the "mother church."
Ryan's responsibilities at City Church will include working with the young singles and married couples, supporting & developing a small groups ministry, helping out with some administration, and developing a coordinated mercy outreach to the city of Honolulu. As we've noted before, this is a job description tailor-made for him, given his love for building small groups and relationships and his background in urban mercy ministry. (It may seem strange to refer to a place in Hawaii as "urban," but Honolulu is in fact a city, with problems of traffic congestion, skyrocketing real estate prices, and endemic homelessness that would be familiar to any New Yorker, albeit on a smaller scale.)
Another key reason our family is attractive to the church is because Carrie has family in Hawaii and spent a lot of time there in her childhood; unlike someone coming in with no previous experience or connections with Hawaii, we are much more likely to fit into Hawaii's unique culture.
So, there in a nutshell is the picture we have come to see: on City Church's side, the need for someone trained in urban ministry and mercy outreach who can build strong relationships with the young families and singles, and has pre-existent ties to Hawaii. On our side, the opportunity for Ryan to follow his calling into church ministry in a role uniquely suited to his skills and gifts, at a time that is strategic not just for City Church, but also for its church-planting movement in Hawaii, as well as the opportunity to be closer to Carrie's family in Hawaii and on the West Coast.
We are sure that you may have many other questions to be answered. Please give us a call anytime. We are going to be planning a huge barbeque on Memorial day to kick off our last summer in NY and spend some time answering questions. Come over for some grilling on Memorial Day and let's talk!
As we move to Hawaii, we'll be considering ourselves as sort-of missionaries - leaving our home, going to a new culture, raising some support. To keep our friends and supporters aware of how we are doing, we'll be updating this blog on a regular basis. We'll send out emails to anyone who wants to subscribe.
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